Mor language (Papuan)
{{Short description|Papuan language}}
{{distinguish|Mor language (Austronesian)}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Mor
|region=Fakfak Regency, West Papua
|speakers=30
|date=2012
|ref=e18
|speakers2=70 semi-speakers (2012)
|familycolor=Papuan
|fam1=Trans–New Guinea
|fam2=Berau Gulf
|iso3=moq
|glotto=morb1239
|glottorefname=Mor (Bomberai Peninsula)
|map=Mor language.svg
|mapcaption=Map: The Mor language of New Guinea
{{legend|#FF5E5F|The Mor language}}
{{legend|#7BB5B6|Other Trans–New Guinea languages}}
{{legend|#D9D9D9|Other Papuan languages}}
{{legend|#E09D00|Austronesian languages}}
{{legend|white|Uninhabited}}
}}
Mor is a nearly extinct Trans–New Guinea language of Indonesia. It is spoken along the Budidi River and the Bomberai River on the Bomberai Peninsula.{{cite book |last1=Pawley |first1=Andrew |last2=Hammarström |first2=Harald |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |date=2018 |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |chapter=The Trans New Guinea family |series= The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=21–196 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}}
Classification
It may form a tentative independent branch of that family in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005), but Palmer (2018) classifies it as a language isolate.{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Bill |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |date=2018 |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |chapter=Language families of the New Guinea Area |series= The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=1–20 |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7}} However, the only connections are the 1sg and 2sg pronouns na- and a-:
| class="wikitable" |
| ! sg
! pl |
|---|
| 1
| na-ya | ne-a |
| 2
| a-ya | omase |
| 3
| mena | morimene |
Usher classifies it with the other Trans–New Guinea languages of the Berau Gulf.[https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/trans-new-guinea/berau-gulf/mor New Guinea World, Mor]
Nouns
Nominal inflection for number in Mor is limited to only certain animate nouns, such as mor ‘man’ and mor-ir ‘men’. Other nouns do not inflect for number, such as is ‘bird/birds’.{{rp|97}}
Vocabulary
The following basic vocabulary words are from Voorhoeve (1975),Voorhoeve, C.L. Languages of Irian Jaya: Checklist. Preliminary classification, language maps, wordlists. B-31, iv + 133 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1975. {{doi|10.15144/PL-B31}} as cited in the Trans-New Guinea database:{{Cite web |url=http://transnewguinea.org/language/mor |title=TransNewGuinea.org - database of the languages of New Guinea |last=Greenhill |first=Simon |date=2016| access-date=2020-11-05}}
:
| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! Mor | |
| head | idura |
| hair | sa |
| eye | nana |
| tooth | nasona |
| leg | bana |
| louse | twoa |
| dog | afuna |
| pig | bia |
| bird | isa |
| egg | utreta |
| blood | wabmina |
| bone | weten |
| skin | gina |
| tree | wara |
| man | hiamia |
| sun | seba |
| water | sea |
| fire | taha |
| stone | puata |
| name | inagenena |
| eat | masmore |
| one | nadu |
| two | kin |
A word list of Mor has also been collected by Johannes Anceaux.Smits, Leo and Clemens L. Voorhoeve. 1998. The J.C. Anceaux Collection of Wordlists of Irian Jaya Languages B: Non-Austronesian (Papuan) languages (Part II). Leiden-Jakarta: Department of Cultures and Languages of Southeast Asia and Oceania.
References
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
{{Malcolm Ross Pronouns}}
{{refend}}
External links
- Timothy Usher, New Guinea World, [https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/trans-new-guinea/berau-gulf/mor Mor]
{{Papuan languages}}